Party leaders urged to ensure NHS survival

5th June 2014

NHS England's chief executive, Simon Stevens, addressed the issue of how the service could overcome the £30bn gap between its funding and the demand for care expected by 2020.

71 NHS trust leaders signed a letter to the guardian, warning the three main parties that: "[t]he NHS is at the most challenged time of its existence" and that "[t]he services we commission and run are not designed to cope with the care needs of the 21st century".

They also criticised the three main parties for not facing up to the financial problems of the NHS at the 2010 election and said: "in 2015, the parties must address the full range of challenges facing the NHS".

The signatories highlighted the increasing importance of care means the NHS's costs are rising by about 4% a year above normal inflation

This extra demand is caused by an ageing population, life-style related illness and an insistence for better care whilst services are undergoing prolonged budgeting.